retired_eneko5613

30th November 2008

Dear Diary,

A month of some progress, but not much in the league. The players are still ****ed off with the fact we're not up at the top of the table, but the Chairman seems happy enough at the moment. I've also been spending more of our cash reserves, but I'll get to that in due course. First of all we had some problems to deal with at the start of the month. Training injuries meant we would lose two Millers for a week, Kenny with bruised ribs and Kevin with a strained neck. So when we went to bottom side Ayr, Mitchell got a rare start. Kevin Miller had to sit on the bench, though, as we had no other goalkeeping option. Ayr took the lead, which was a rather worrying development, but the first of the season for Mitchell two minutes later was followed rapidly by a goal for McLean. Mitchell left the pitch with a foot injury to add to our problems, it'll keep him out of action for three weeks, but that allowed young Peter Marshall to make his debut. It was one of a series of excellent crosses from Marshall which set Steve McLean up for our third five minutes from the end.

We sent a weakened team to Dortmund, and looked for the draw without shame. Hardly surprising really when you consider the striking options we had available! We held out for 44 minutes of the first half, before Rosicky put the Germans in front. There was no way back for us, because we couldn't get the final ball right despite a valiant collective effort. The official news from the other game was a long time coming, but cheers from our small band of travelling fans let us know that things had gone our way. It had been 2-2 since the 68th minute, and neither side had been able to get a third goal, meaning they both went out in one of the tightest Champions League groups of all time.
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">Dortmund 6 9 +3ICT 6 9 0Dinamo 6 8 0AIK 6 8 -3</pre>
That was worth a cool £1.2m, and a place in one of the toughest groups alongside PSV, Liverpool and Bayern.

With the Champions League cleared up for now, we warily awaited the visit of Hearts, second placed in the league and high on the memory of the thrashing they gave us last time we met. Another striker bit the dust during the game, as Russell Duncan faced a three week break with a strained knee. But that allowed Marshall onto the pitch again, and he stuck the only goal of the game away ten minutes after half time. Not only can he cross, he can score! The result dragged us up to fourth.

The players were allowed to enjoy the rare luxury of a full week off, whilst I turned my attention to trying to bring some signings in. Two players are - very expensively - persuaded to sign up to the mission, but only one arrives before the end of the week. £3m plus a promise of up to another £4m depending on a combination of league games and international appearances, persuades Fulham to part with 25 year old Jamie McCunnie. 18 caps with his country, and SPL experience with Dundee Utd and Motherwell, Jamie is the best right back eligible to play for Scotland.

McCunnie makes his debut as we travel to top of the table Celtic. Despite our best defensive efforts, the Old Firm side still got an early goal. they never look safe though. We battle well, especially in midfield, and Pearson's 5th of the season after half time tops off his performance and earns him the Man of the Match award. It also secures the point.

To complement McCunnie, left back Stephen Crainey arrives from Leicester. 27 years old and with 24 Scottish caps, he's going to have to do a great deal to justify his record breaking £6m transfer fee. He'll have to wait a while for his debut as well. First up we had to face PSV at the Caledonian. It was a tight game in front of a capacity crowd at the Caledonian, and 0-0 was probably a fair result. To be honest, though, if we wanted to progress like last season we had to win that game.

With that game out of the way, we concentrate on the league for the rest of the month. Kilmarnock succumb 2-1 after taking the lead at the Caledonian. Goals from Marshall and Mitchell in the second half save face, but we stay 5th. Four days later we raced into a 4-0 lead at Livington in the first 25 minutes. Mitchell, Pearson and two from Steve McLean made it look comfortable, but the home side got a quick one back, and two more in the second half, which left us hanging on at 4-3 for the last ten minutes. Which just left a trip to Rangers, with 4th place finally at stake. What a game that was!

We went to Ibrox with the firm belief that we could beat an out of sorts Old Firm side who were only just above us in the table. By ten minutes in we were three goals down, and all thought of victory was banished. Steve McLean got his tenth of the season after quarter of an hour to give us hope, but that goal was cancelled out 5 minutes later by young Englishman Richard Preston. Rankin got our secon only to see Preston restore the 3 goal cushion again on the half hour mark. 7 goals in half an hour, and if that had carried on who knows what the result would have been? That didn't happen, though. In fact there was only one more goal in the match with Stewart making it 5-3 on the hour mark. Goalfest! The board were "disappointed" with the performance, but it seems increasingly like the Chairman roles that statement out every time we fail to beat the Old Firm.

A second award winning month, then, for me. December will be another mammoth month, with at least 8 games. It never seems to stop!

retired_eneko5613

31st December 2008

Dear Diary,

Happy New Year! May it bring us all everything we want. What I want right now is a quiet month, because December has been another crazy one. We opened the month with the experience of a lifetime, playing if front of 62 and a half thousand fans in the Olympic Stadium, Munich. Up against players like Mendieta, van Nistelrooy, Roque Santa Cruz and Gattuso we had no choice, really, but to defend. We frustrated them well throughout the first half, but just when it looked as though the fans would start getting on their backs, Roque Santa Cruz nipped in and headed them in front. Bravely, we kept at them, and kept them out. 1-0 is not a result to be ashamed of in those circumstances, but it doesn't help our qualification efforts.

With that round of matches concluded, the Champions League packed it's bags and headed off on holiday until February, leaving us to concentrate on domestic matters. Back to back results against Liverpool would seem to be our only real chance of further progression. The draw for the League Cup Semi Final, meanwhile, pairs us against Hibs if by some miracle we can knock Celtic out.

The first league game of the month saw Motherwell visit to try and steal our 5th place. We got off to a flyer when Kenny Miller fired us in front inside five minutes, but the lead was short lived. James McFadden equalised, and the rest of the half went by in stalemate. Miller removed himself from the action fairly promptly at the start of the second half. In fact, he did better than that. The calf strain meant he would miss the rest of the month. Great stuff. Meanwhile, Steve McLean saw fit to put us back in front, but an immediate equaliser from Steven McGarry dented our confidence again. When the very same player put another away with five minutes to go, we looked done for, but Steve Mitchell was on hand to ensure we rescued a point and positions remained unchanged.

Mitchell was on hand to do the damage again in the League Cup rendezvous with Celtic. His goal was the only one separating the sides, in possibly the most defence oriented cup tie ever. Hibs in the Semi it is then :-) Not content with seeing off the hooped side of Glasgow, we tore into the might of local rivals Aberdeen in what was unusally a game between 5th and 8th. Two sides who had spent most of the last five seasons in the top 4 places, reduced to fighting for scraps. Anyway, three second half goals did the damage, two for Steve McLean and one for Fletcher. Somewhere in the middle of all that, Steve Mitchell twisted his ankle. Another striker bites the dust for a month. For some reason this didn't impress various journalists, who decided amongst themselves that it was time to stick the knife into David McEwan. Our relatively new, and incidentally internationally capped, goalkeeper apparently doesn't cut the mustard. The bank manager wasn't impressed either. McLean's 20th League game costs us £375k.
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">Hibs 20 45 +19Rangers 21 43 +19Celtic 21 40 +18ICT 20 38 +13Hearts 21 36 +10M'well 21 32 +2</pre>
Not content with their witch hunt against McEwan, the very same journalists piped up in midweek against McGuire. Now I have to admit, they have more of a case here. McGuire certainly hasn't lived up to his reputation so far, but you've got to give the lad time to settle. Still, sod them, what do they know about football?

The grand opening of the transfer window saw the local taxi company making a killing. Byron Bubb went to Lincoln, and José MarÃ*a Montero to Real Betis. Not a bad swap for £5.6m. I would spend a fair chunk of it before the month was out. On the pitch, the first game of a double-header against league leaders Hibs ended 1-0 in our favour, moving us up to 3rd for the time being. We had to rely on Peter Marshall coming off the bench to score the inner though. The second game is only three days later, but we have another new signing in Under 21 forward Calum McHattie, signed from Aberdeen for £1.7m to show off. Crainey missed the game with a thigh strain. It finished 0-0, which was rather disappointing considering they had a player sent off after only 9 minutes. That didn't impress the chairman.

I don't let Christmas shopping get in the way of sniffing out the best in Scottish talent. In fact, whilst everyone else was carrying out last minute preparations, two days before the festive celebrations, I was busy concluding the signing of 37 times capped Jim Paterson from Watford. £1.5m sees the left side of my defence and midfield strengthened in one go. Meanwhile, we approach defensive crisis point as Lee Wilkie injures his shoulder, presumably putting up the Christmas tree.

Boxing Day was a joy to behold, though. Sure, Dundee were next to bottom, but the way we took them apart with four second half goals was something else. Two in three minutes for Steve McLean took him to 15 for the season, whilst Malcolm got his first and Rankin also reached a landmark with his 5th two minutes from the end. Captain Michael Stewart took man of the match, although Jim Paterson did limp out of the game with a two week thigh strain sentence. All we had to do to end the month, and 2008, on a high was beat Arbroath down at Gayfield Park...

Which we didn't. In complete contrast to the Dundee game, we were utterly shambolic. A goal inside quarter of an hour put us on the back foot, and they had two others disallowed before finishing the game with two in the last ten minutes, including one from Caley Thistle reject Paul Shields. To complete the contrast, Stewart picked up a yellow card which will cost him a suspension for the first match of the new year. And Fletcher damaged his knee ligament, so he'll miss three weeks.

As I said. A hectic month, and in some ways I'm glad to have it behind me. I think we're going to face even more challenges in 2009, though! Oh, and Montgomery sprained his neck celebrating too much at the New Year's Eve party. Typical bloody Scotsman!

C.LYF.Lee

I did this on CM 01/02 ages ago. Used irish northern irish and welsh players too, though.

retired_eneko5613

everyone's doing it now...

31st January 2009

Dear Diary,

Phew! Just got back from Aberdeen, where we've had quite literally a battle. We're still in the cup, though, as the game ended 1-1. Not only in goals, but in red cards, as Fletcher and Gordon Stewart were both dismissed for a bit of fisticuffs just after Steve McLean fired us ahead. Paul MacDonald hit an unstoppable freekick to send us to a replay.

Other than that, it's been quite a quiet month. January always is, the winter break has a lot to answer for. Most of the lads were in a drunken stupor for the first week and a half of the year, only sobering up to hear the news of that FA Cup third round draw. Our first actual action didn't come around until the 17th, when Celtic knocked on the door and asked if we'd like to actually do something to earn our money. We sent them packing when Stephen Crainey scored his first for the club direct from a free kick on the hour mark. Baha, who spent an inordinately short amount of time here as a player, had a goal disallowed in the first half. Not content with having to hang on to a 1-0 lead, Ross Tokely (who was only on the pitch because of Stewart's suspension) got hiimself sent off six minutes after the goal. We hung on marvellously.

And from there we went to Kilmarnock and had a much tougher game. Things didn't really go to plan from the start, as Phil McGuire was stretchered off after ten minutes. He's búggered his achilles tendon and will be out until March. Maybe the press will get off his back for a bit now! Crainey showed that he wasn't a one kick wonder with another freekick, but that was soon equalised by Shields. Simon Lynch put Killie ahead just after half time, but two minutes later Robert Malcolm headed a corner in. It looked like a draw from there, with neither team able to kill the game off, but thanks to the Killie keeper bringing down Pearson and getting sent off, McLean was able to slot home a penalty and we coasted in against the ten men.

We started the month 4th, we finished the month 4th. The difference now is that only one point separates us from the two Old Firm clubs in 2nd and 4rd, whilst there is a 9 point gap back to Hearts in 5th. Hibs are starting to open up a gap at the top though. Off now to prepare for the replay with Aberdeen. I think we'll move all the breakables out of the stadium...

retired_eneko5613

28th February 2009

The replay went well! It was all decided by a penalty inside the first fifteen minutes. Darren Young barged Pearson in the back, and once again Steve McLean kept his nerve to put away the spot kick. It was all that was needed, as yet again the match threatened to turn nasty, with a couple of yellow cards for each side. The game as a spectacle wasn't much to observe, but it got us through, eventually.

We man aged to fit one league game in, in a month that was otherwise all about the cups. Off we trooped to Tynecastle on the 7th, looking tired after the midweek replay. Hearts took advantage, and went one up in the first half, and it took a triple substitution on the hour mark to change things around. John Rankin made a bid for regular football with the equaliser just five minutes after coming on, the ball coming from another substitute, Marshall, and then Steve McLean won us the match ten minutes later. It was an important win, emphasising once again the gap between 4th and 5th in the table.

Back to back must win midweek fixtures in the Champions League against Liverpool were also on the cards. At home, we were disappointing in the first one. I tried to get us to soke up the Scouse pressure and hit them on the break, but it didn't work as we succumbed to a Heskey header ten before half time. They shut up shop and we never got back into it, which left me with egg on my face and looking forward to a roasting from the Chairman. So in the away tie, with qualification almost out the window, I decided to throw caution to the wind and the full force of my attack at the Kop. It worked, at least briefly. Steve Mitchell, starting his first game for quite some time, scored as early as the 3rd minute, and repeated the task just after half time. Unfortunately, Labinot Harbuzi spoiled things by equalising between the two goals, and then Scott Young equalised after the second. At no time were we in front for more than 7 minutes! Of course, Heskey was on hand to add Liverpool's third, and comdemn us to another Champions League defeat.

And we weren't done with cup disappointment yet, not by a long way. Another draw at Kilmarnock was in order, Mitchell opening (again) for us and Burgess equalising for them ten minutes later. Michael Stewart picked up a yellow card which meant he would miss our next cup game...

...which was the League Cup Semi against Hibs. Despite some more bad press aimed in the direction of Stephen Crainey, the full back remained in the squad with my full support. Somerset Park, Ayr was the chosen location, looking fine after numerous upgrades, and a healthy 33752 crowd was present. They weren't about to witness a particularly good game. Despite the fact that we absolute battered the green and whites from Edinburgh, we got nothing out of the game. A single goal from VÃ*ctor Manuel Pérez was enough to take Hibs through to the final, and to send us cowering back home...

...where Kilmarnock were again waiting for us. Once again, the press was acting as the opposition's 12th man, getting on the back of Lee Wilkie this time. I pinned the article up on the dressing room wall before the game, but it didn't have the effect I was expecting. We crumbled in front of Killie's attack, a first half goal from Cosgrove looking like it had done the damage. We chased the game to the best of our (currently limited) abilities, but our hopes were dashed with a last minute Simon Lynch goal.

Out of three cups in one month, the press on the backs of a good number of my players (they had another go at Crainey after the last Killie game). It's not looking good is it? Time to concentrate on the league as they say.

retired_eneko5613

31st March 2009

Dear Diary,

There was little point in travelling to Eindhoven, but we went anyway. In a way I'm glad we did, even though we got thoroughly thumped, because it enabled me and a few of the players to see how low we had got. Although we went out to win, our attacking force didn't exactly do much, and we were comfortably beaten 3-0. We discussed a few ideas on the way back from The Netherlands, but there wasn't really time to put many of them into practice. Hence we lost 2-0 at Aberdeen as well. This did not please the Chairman, as you might imagine. He was seen disappearing away from Pittodrie muttering my name under his breath, and I'm sure it wasn't anything nice he was saying. What probably made it worse was that two Scottish strikers, Gordon Stewart and Derek Young, got the goals. Despite Kennedy, McGuire and McHattie all coming over from the dark side, they still seem to be able to produce home grown quality.

Still, we got four players called up to the Scotland squad. Kevin Miller, Wilkie, McCunnie and Crainey all get the call for the matches against Bulgaria and Romania. Peter Marshall will join up with the Under 21 squad, in search of his first cap. Once again, the press are on our case. It seems the plight of the "all Scottish club" is of utmost interest to them, especially when they detect a hint of a bad performance or two. This time it's Robert Malcolm's turn. At least they're spreading it around a little! Sure Malc's had some bad games, but I wasn't going to tell them that!

Anyway, finally we had some time to put some ideas into practice on the training field, and hopefully put some things right. Some changes were made, the squad shuffled a little, and when Bayern came to town we were very unlucky to lose by a single Santa Cruz goal. I wasn't unhappy with the performance, and I hinted at such in the press conference, stopping short of daring the press to find any single player at fault. My optimism was justified when we beat Livingston 2-1 three days later. Kenny Miller celebrated his return to the starting lineup with two goals in the first fifteen minutes, and although we got a little sloppy towards the end and gave a goal away, things definitely looked better. Lee Wilkie was arguably the player most at fault for almost letting Livi back into the game, and unbelievably this was enough for the media hounds to write their piece condemning our defender. Sometimes it makes you sick.

No-one could possibly have found anything to complain about as we demolished 10th place Ayr 3-0. At last, Calum McHattie goto on the scoresheet, and he enjoyed it so much he did it twice. Rankin got the first of the three, and we went into the 10 day International break feeling confident and a hell of a lot happier!

McCunnie wins his 19th cap in unhappy circumstances against Bulgaria. He starts on the bench, and the team are already 1-0 down by the time he comes on. It finishes 3-0. His 20th cap, 4 days later against Romania, is a happier occasion. A second half substitute once again, he helps his country hold out for a 1-0 win. But back in Inverness the quiet period makes work for idle hands. Out of nowhere, the knives are out in the media for Stephen Pearson. I was being honest when I said I couldn't see what the lad had done wrong, and that our recent results spoke for themselves. This was written up under the headline "Jordan defends inept player - again". Apparently, this was too much for the Chairman, and he "had words". The words I've been hearing don't bode well for my future...

Hopefully things were improved at the end of the month when we beat Rangers 2-1 to go third. Pearson sat this one out, with my apologies, and we took the lead when Steve McLean rattled home his 20th of the season in the 2nd minute. Fletcher's goal gave us breathing space and even Kiegan Parker's effort 5 minutes after half time didn't stop our flow. The third win on the trot was enough to give me the Manager of the Month award. One in the eye for all the doubters!

retired_eneko5613

10th May 2009

Dear Diary,

Not a good month, I'm afraid...

We really should have beaten Motherwell, who were seventh in the league, on All Fools day. It was our game in hand, and could have seen us move up level with Celtic at the top. Stewart got us on the road to victory just before half time, but it looked set to be another day when look wouldn't go our way when the the ball went in off Steven McGarry's knee ten minutes into the second half. It was the striker's 50th Motherwell goal, and whilst he celebrated we suffered. We stayed third, with our chances of catching Celtic dealt a severe blow.

After that disappointment, we would proably have taken a 0-0 draw at Easter Road in the 2nd vs 3rd game. However, when Hibs' Matt Fletcher was harshly sent off only ten minutes in, I wanted more. We threw the kitchen sink, and most of the other household fittings at the Hibs defence, but couldn't beat them. Yet again we had missed out on the chance to go 2nd, and this time the Chairman let me know his feelings. The league split now, into two groups, and up at the top we were still in with a shout of any of the top four places.
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">Celtic 33 69 +35Hibs 33 66 +29ICT 33 65 +21Rangers 33 63 +15Hearts 33 54 +9Arbr'th 33 46 -3</pre>

Get the difficult games out of the way first, I suppose. Certainly the draw wasn't kind to us. Celtic first at the Caledonian, and then Hibs at Easter Road again. It goes to show how far this club has come, though, that fans will demonstrate and the chairman will be disappointed with a 0-0 home draw with Celtic. Personally, I would probably have demonstrated, but not at anything about our club or my management. I would have demonstrated against the fact that this was probably the most boring game in history, as both sides struggled to create anything, and notched up only 7 shots at goal between them in the 90 minutes. We held an open air press conference after the game, which seemed to calm the baying hounds of the crowd a little. Indeed, the Chairman actually took me to one side and told me he thought I'd handled the situation well. Things couldn't be that bad, then.
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">Celtic 34 70 +35Hibs 34 66 +28Rangers 34 66 +26ICT 34 66 +21Hearts 34 57 +11Arbroath 34 46 -5</pre>

Our second trip of the month to Easter Road was even more disappointing than our first. We were going along quite well, albeit not creating much, when Steven Thompson and Scott Wilson notched two in eight minutes midway through the second half, to more or less end our chances of catching Celtic and really pÃ*ss the Chairman off. I thought I was going to have to clear my desk there and then, but our next two games were against Hearts and Arbroath, the strugglers of the group, and maybe we could still salvage 2nd place.
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">Celtic 35 73 +37Hibs 35 69 +30Rangers 35 69 +27ICT 35 66 +19Hearts 35 57 +9Arbroath 35 56 -6</pre>

Things are at least going right for some people at Caley. Peter Marshall wins his first Under 21 cap, and scores to boot, as the side squash Ireland 5-0. The journalists don't want to talk to me about that, though. They want to know why I persist in playing Phil McGuire. To be honest, I've had enough. I'm not going to defend the players any more. I fend off the hounds with a simple "no comment".

We get off to the worst possible start when Hearts come to The Caledonian in a game that is must win for more than one reason. Ulrik Laursen scores after only six minutes, and already the crowd are getting on our backs. Steve McLean gets us back level with a penalty just before half time after Kenny Miller was flattened. We could breath again. The second half progressed wariyl, until we were hit by two goals in eight minutes at an almost identical time as the Hibs match. Neil Clement and Andy Kirk did the damage this time, each one a nail in the coffin.

Celtic are crowned champions, and that spells the end for me. I knew the Chairman wouldn't put up with anything less than a trophy after I'd spent so much, and my gamble failed. I've already cleared my desk before he comes and tells me my time is up.

Ironically, in my absence, Caley beat Arbroath 3-2 with only one of the non-Scottish players, Jonathon Fortune, involved. Soon after they appoint Sam Allardyce from Wolves as their new manager and in the final game of the season lose 5-1 with Matt Christensen and Joren Nuyts recalled to the side.

So, I'm looking for another job. I'm not going to let the Chairman have the last word, though. If I do find another Scottish club to take me on, then I'm going to beat him at his own game...

2008/9 Inverness Caledonian Thistle Stats:

League
Played 38 Won 20 Drawn 9 Lost 9 Goals For 66 Goals Against 52 Points 69. 4th Place

UEFA Champions League
Played 12 Won 3 Drawn 1 Lost 8 Goals For 10 Goals Against 17. Phase 1 Group E Winners, Phase 2 Group C 4th.

Scottish FA Cup
Fourth Round

Scottish League Cup
Semi Finalists.

retired_eneko5613

31st July 2007

Dear Diary,

Well, my masterplan may have to wait a while. After a long summer holiday (thank goodness for the Copa America on TV!), and with Scottish jobs as rare as Rocking Horse ****, I decided to look slightly further afield for a job. So I ended up at this ****hole Rotherham, who are a Second Division side at the moment. They've flirted with the First Division, but never finished higher than 21st. The Board, run by a bloke called Andy Ward, seem a decent bunch and don't expect miracles this year. Good job really, because I've missed preseason, the League starts in just over a fortnight, and although there is a little money for transfers, there's not enough to make a big difference in such a short time.

We'll just have to see how it goes.

Author's note:Obviously, we're outside the bounds of Scottish Football here, so updates will be sparse until a Scottish job comes up.

retired_eneko5613

13th November 2009

Dear Diary,

It's four months since I last wrote anything here, so I thought it was time I updated. It's certainly been a different experience, managing a club in the industrial wastelands of South Yorkshire. Three sides of the ground here are surrounded by the scrapyards of C.F. Booth Ltd, a company once owned by the same man who ran the club. On the pitch, though, the squad was small and what became clear quite quickly was that, even though the wage bill was down around the £70k p/w mark, the gate money coming in wouldn't even cover that. There were obviously two things to do: Increase the fan base, or lower the wage bill. The first would take too long for my liking, so it had to be the second.

The team had a strong nucleus: Bags of goalkeeping experience with Carlo Nash (35) and Maik Taylor (37). Decent raw talent in defence with Robin French (24) in his fifth season at the club, Ryan Ross (21) in his second, and experience left back Danny Higginbotham (30) starting his 6th Millers campaign. It was midfield where it all looked like happening, though. Playmaker Richie Wellens (29) was key to the squad, and was the best player last year. He would be supported in midfield by new signings Niam Uka (28), a Yugoslav signed from Darlington and José Quitongo (34), a player I knew well from his Celtic and Motherwell days. Also around was something of an enigma in Siyabonga Nomvete (31). The experienced Zulu South African, with over thirty caps and twelve goals for his country was starting his fourth season at the club, but claiming a wage of £16,500 p/w I got the feeling he wasn't going to be around for long. Scoring the goals, hopefully, would be Jamie Forrester (35), a journeyman forward who seemed to have settled. This would be his third season at Millmoor. And there was a familiar face as well - Paul Bradshaw (30), whom I had let go from Inverness five years ago. In all that time, he had only played nine times for his new club. I knew what he was capable of, and hopefully he would get more opportunity under my reign here.

First task, though was to see what the loan markets would throw up. The Chairman had told me that he would, eventually, release some funds for transfers, but not until the club was on an even financial footing. With all the bargain free transfers taken already, loaning players was my only chance. Fortunately, my reputation helped me along the way, and I soon had deals to bring Jeff Whitley (30) from Manchester City for four months and Mick Bennett (23) from Arsenal for the season. A lot of pressure would be on the young striker's shoulders. He needed to supply that bit of skill up front to allow the lesser players to take their opportunities.

The season started quite well:
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">15/8 Grimsby 0 Rotherham 2 (Whitley 38, Barr 57) 6th22/8 Rotherham 1 Sheff Utd 0 (Nomvete 65) 2nd25/8 Rushden 0 Rotherham 1 (Quitongo 3) League Cup 1st Round29/8 Burnley 0 Rotherham 2 (Wellens 62, Uka 90) 1st</pre>

Four games, four wins, no goals conceded and top of the league. Sufficiently good to bring me my first English Manager of the Month award. I also managed to knock £10k off the wage bill by selling Alisdair Graham to Portsmouth for £200k and Carlo Nash to Halifax for £50k. I had talks with Nomvete, letting him know that if a reasonable offer came in for him, he could move on, and he was remarkably civil about the whole thing. He wanted to stay at Rotherham, and was willing to take a £4,000 pay cut to help make that happen. For the time being at least.

On we went:
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">31/8 Rotherham 2 Norwich 0 (Bennett 54, Nomvete 70) 1st5/9 Wimbledon 0 Rotherham 2 (Forrester 44pen, Wellens 55) 1st</pre>

Things just seemed to get better and better, but there was a sour note at the end of the Dons game. Maik Taylor limped off, and the prognosis was that he would miss 3 weeks. With two players already loaned in, and no unattached keepers willing to come to Millmoor for peanuts at the drop of a hat, we went into the next game with Trainee Kevin Laws between the sticks. Although I later found out that one of the executives at the club had tracked down Mart Poom and was discussing a deal.
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">12/9 Rotherham 1 Huddersfield 3 (McDonald (24), I Morris (41), Bennett 45, A Morris (71pen) 3rd</pre>

Things started moving rather quickly all of a sudden. Barnsley signed Jeff Whitley, leaving me with a big hole in midfield, but also an open loan slot, so in came Paul Gallacher (30) from Reading for a month, straight into the side for the Chesterfield game:
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">16/9 Chesterfield 1 Rotherham 4 (Forrester 4, Wellens 41 66, Barr 73, Cimerotic (76)) 2nd</pre>

And in came Mart Poom (37), complete with his 132 Estonian caps, on a rather expensive month-by-month contract. The squad was looking a bit more stable again.
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">19/9 Rotherham 1 Cambridge Utd 0 (Nomvete 76) 2nd23/9 Bolton 1 Rotherham 2 (Wellens 28 Hogg (56) Bradshaw 81) League Cup 2nd Round26/9 Rotherham 0 Plymouth 1 (Luz (12pen)) 2nd</pre>

Richie Wellens was rewarded for a great month with the Player of the Month award. My home grown left sided midfielder, Ashley Barr (22), had been forced into a move to replace Whitley in the holding role, so Quitongo was looking a bit exposed out on the flanks. Looking to provide a bit more depth and experience, I agreed a deal with Martin Grainger (37) to come to Millmoor on a rather optimistic three year deal, and extend his 628 club appearances a little further.
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">3/10 Exeter 2 Rotherham 0 (Fox (33) Lohse (51)) 2nd10/10 Rotherham 5 Shrewbury 0 (Bennett 11, Barr 22, Grainger 27, Forrester 60, Wellens 79) 1st17/10 QPR 0 Rotherham 1 (Quitongo 74) 1st</pre>

Four red cards in the last four matches, including two in the 1-0 win at QPR, meant that suspensions were starting to bite, and the small squad was stretched even further. Therefore Alex Neil (31) was persuaded to join after being released by neighbours Doncaster. If anything, this would ease the departure of Nomvete from the club, as the two players were quite similar. It was nice to get one over on Jeff Whitley's new side:
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">20/10 Rotherham 2 Barnsley 0 (Forrester 3, French 17) 1st24/10 Crystal Palace 0 Rotherham 1 (French 68) 1st28/10 Oldham 2 Rotherham 1 (Forrester 45, Harrison (56), Harris (86)) League Cup 3rd Round31/10 Crewe 4 Rotherham 1 (Lynch (28pen), Forrester 37, Wallwork 51, Revell 63, Fletcher 69) 2nd</pre>

Although selling him made my defence look exceptionally bare, especially with French serving a seven match ban, an offer of £190k from Dagenham and Redbridge for Adam Tann (27) couldn't really be turned down, especially as he was another player earning over £4,000 per week.
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">7/11 Rotherham 1 Halifax 2 (Carr (17), Brown (72), Uka 90) 3rd</pre>

It was disappointing to lose my last game in South Yorkshire, but the sacking of Peter Taylor by Southampton at the beginning of the month had caught my attention. Struggling near the bottom of the first division, but with lots of cash to spend, I couldn't really ignore the challenge. So here I am, and I must say it's a lot nicer than Millmoor!

Rotherham United Stats

League: Division Two
Played 16 Won 11 Drawn 0 Lost 5 Goals For 26 Goals Against 13 Points 33

League Cup: Third Round

retired_eneko5613

13th May 2010

Dear Diary,

The St. Mary's stadium, and Southampton in general, was like a breath of fresh air. The club was struggling down in 18th place when I arrived, but with just one look at the squad I could tell that there was no way they should be there. The Chairman, Rupert Lowe, sat me down in his office for our first meeting and told me that he wanted to consolidate, and gain a respectable league place. He also chipped in to say that there would be £12m plus to spend if I needed it. How different from Millmoor could it get? The temptation to get stuck in was great, and I really enjoyed my time. To such an extent that I even forgot about my goal on a couple of occasions.

Of course, the wage bill was steep. At nearly a quarter of a million per week, long term lack of success was not a commercially viable option. A good chunk of this could be attributed to the wages of Aussie superstar forward Scott McDonald (26), who didn't immediately impress me, certainly not £31k p/w material anyway. Then there was club talisman Wayne Bridge (29) earning a cool £25k p/w. Wayne had been at Southampton for as long as anyone can remember, and most people think he's cooked the books somewhere along the lines if he thinks he's not 30 yet. Defender Jerel Ifil (27) is the other £20k p/w plus earner at the club. Other than that, there are several decent First Division quality players on the books. Keeper Nuno Marques (29) is a Portugese B team cap, midfield is filled by ex Liverpool lad John Welsh (26), the born again Kevin Street (32) and Brian Howard (26), supported by the evergreen Steve Housham (33) and willing backup Chris Carruthers (25). Up at the front, there is no big name striker, although Kevin Davies (32) holds onto the dream, and Neil Anderson (22) may be worth a second glance. Depth certainly exists in the reserves, although whether that depth is a strength remains to be seen.

An easy job to be happy in, if things go well:
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">14/11 Leicester 2 Southampton 3 (Warner (14), Carruthers 52, Anderson 64, Dunne (79), Carruthers 86) 16th</pre>

A good enough start, then, thanks to the unexpected source of the first, and winning goals. All that money in the bank was making me nervous, though, and I couldn't resist reaquainting myself with some old friends. A double swoop on the Caledonian Stadium ensued, bringing striker Mawete Júnior (£2.3m) and Aussie midfielder Matthew Christensen (£2.5m) in.
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">21/11 Southampton 1 Stoke 3 (Anderson 20, Gardner (28), Dunwell (58), O'Callaghan (90)) 17th</pre>

Careless, and still lightweight up front. Time to raid another old club, bringing Mick Bennett away from his Rotherham loan spell for £1.8m.
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">25/11 Southampton 4 Derby 1 (Christensen 9, Tipton (20), Anderson 23, 44, McDonald 84) 14th28/11 WBA 0 Southampton 0 16th</pre>

Neil Anderson surprisingly took the Division One player of the month award, whilst I cleared out some of the clearly unneeded players to free up some shirt pegs in the dressing room. Kevin Murray went to West Brom for £500k, whilst Kevin Davies reluctantly went to Dagenham and Redbridge for £150k.
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">5/12 Southampton 5 Bolton 2 (Murray (33), Anderson 45, Mawete Júnior 71, Foxe (72), Mawete Júnior 90, Street 90+, Carruthers 90+pen) 12th</pre>

Three goals in the last minute was probably taking the pÃ*ss a bit, but hey . Off went another unwanted midfielder, André Boucand to Birmingham for £725k.
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">12/12 Nottm Forest 1 Southampton 3 (Archibald (20), Mawete Júnior 22, 45, Street 59) 12th</pre>

With my team beginning to take shape, and with the side reaching the top half of the table for the first time, more and more second string players realised they probably didn't have a future at the club. The latest to leave was Scott Collier, heading north to Darlington for £375k.
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">19/12 Southampton 4 Carlisle 0 (Street 24, 45, Mawete Júnior 56 Housham 81) 10th26/12 Southampton 2 Peterborough 2 (Anderson 5, 18pen, McAdam (27), Mahon (35)) 12th28/12 Colchester 2 Southampton 2 (Broomes 27, Mills (60), Gray 63, Mustapha 72) 12th</pre>

Three wins and two draws in December brought me the Manager of the Month award for the first time in this division. Neil Anderson really was turning out to be the surprise package of the squad, having now notched 6 goals since I arrived.
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">2/1 Southampton 2 Middlesborough 2 (Carruthers 30, Foster (43), Anderson 62, Selnæs (64)) 11th</pre>

The first game of 2010 brought our third consecutive 2-2 draw, and also saw John Davidson departing for West Brom to join up with his former team mate. £375k was again the fee.
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">5/1 Everton 1 Southampton 3 (Anderson 14, 63, Rooney (78), Bennett 81) 9th9/1 Southampton 1 Leeds 2 (Keane (13), Viduka (23), Strand 81) FA Cup 3rd Round</pre>

With injuries and suspensions biting, our defence was starting to look a bit thin on experienced cover. Time, then, for another Caledonian raid, and the arrival of Lee Wilkie for £1m. He was about to have some debut:
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">16/1 Southampton 5 Bradford 1 (Naylor (18), Anderson 19, Wilkie 29, Anderson 45, 67, Neal 87) 9th23/1 Dag & Red 1 Southampton 2 (McDonald 11, Campbell (52), Broomes 90) 9th6/2 Southampton 3 Stockport 3 (Street 16, Normann (30), Bennett 38, Anderson 45, Wilbrahim (74), (90+)) 8th13/2 Charlton 1 Southampton 2 (Bennett 9, McDonald 32, Webber (46)) 9th20/2 Southampton 2 Notts County 1 (Miller (40), McDonald 47, Bennett 86) 7th23/2 Port Vale 3 Southampton 1 (Carruthers 10, Riihilahti (36), Armstrong (55), Whiteman (90)) 8th27/2 Southampton 3 Macclesfield 1 (Street 12, Bennett 21, Williams (60), Andrews 90) 6th</pre>

One defeat in five meant I was almost automatic choice for the Manager of the Month award, with Bennett's four goals securing him the Player's equivalent as Southampton sneaked into a playoff place for the first time. To keep the strike force on their toes, and because of injuries to both Anderson and Mawete Júnior, I paid out £2m to bring in Simon Lynch from Kilmarnock. He was to prove money well spent as well, although it took him a little longer:
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">6/3 Southampton 0 Birmingham 0 6th10/3 Sunderland 3 Southampton 4 (Lynch 6, Oster (8), Howard 23, Bennett 26pen, Rowan (35), Donnelly (61), Carruthers 68) 5th.13/3 Portsmouth 1 Southampton 2 (Burchill (18), Lynch 24, McDonald 72) 4th16/3 Derby 0 Southampton 5 (Street 14, Lynch 30, Street 50, Wallwork 63og, Carruthers 75) 3rd31/3 Southampton 4 Leicester 0 (Lynch 20, Christensen 23, 60 Bosschaart 76og) 3rd3/4 Stoke 1 Southampton 1 (Howard 5, Mendonça (74)) 2nd</pre>

After 4 remarkable (for one reason or another) wins, it took a draw with the league leaders to move us into 2nd place. This happily coincided with Kevin Street's selection in the Division One select XI. Another fine achievement. We probably peaked too soon, though:
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">10/4 Southampton 0 Manchester City 3 (Johnson (34), (40) Grahn (72)) 4th16/4 Wrexham 1 Southampton 1 (Lynch 29, Lowndes (51)) 3rd19/4 Southampton 3 Nottm Forest 0 (Street 13, Zhelev 30og, Bridge 48) 3rd24/4 Bolton 2 Southampton 1 (Bennett 36pen, Mofid (51), Murray (75)) 5th1/5 Southampton 2 WBA 1 (George (50), Howard 74, Anderson 87) 5th9/5 Carlisle 2 Southampton 1 (Wright (5), Bridge 26, Lucas (65)) 6th</pre>

The playoff place was aptly secured by Neil Anderson's 87th minute goal against West Brom, but by then my eyes had returned north of the border. The chain of events had started the previous month, when Port Vale sacked Brian Horton. This wasn't of immediate interest, but my eye was drawn when Mick Halsall chose to leave Dundee for the Potteries club. My application was in before I had even checked the league table, and here I am, feet under the table at Dens Park, and ready to give the old challenge another run for it's money!

Nice to see Rotherham United finishing champions of Division 2 as well.

Southampton Stats

League: Division One
Played 30 Won 17 Drawn 8 Lost 5 Goals For 71 Goals Against 41 Points 59

FA Cup: Third Round